Born at the Right Time

“Open your eyes, bride. Everything is finished.”

When the wedding makeup artist next to her said this, Xia Chun, who had been in a trance, slowly opened her eyes. The face she saw in the mirror seemed to be a bit different compared to her original appearance. 

The makeup artist looked down at Xia Chun, admiring her beauty, smiled politely, and said, “If you are not satisfied, tell me. I will change it for you.” 

The time on the small alarm clock on the dressing table showed six in the evening. The dim and warm light that came from the floor-to-ceiling window cast a soft velvet light on her face in the mirror, making her appear more gentle.

 “Thank you. You have done a good job,” Xia Chun replied with a soft smile on her lips while sliding her right hand over the corner of the mirror in front of her.

“This day is a very important day in your life, and I can’t leave you with regrets.” The makeup artist paused and said jokingly, “I’ve been in this business for five or six years, and it’s normal for a bride to ask for this and that.”

 “Rally?” Xia Chun smiled lightly.

“Oh, have you finished? It’s almost time for us to head over to the hotel.” A beautiful woman wearing a brown and red dress opened the door and came in after knocking on it a few times. She was Xia Chun’s mother, Xia Ying.

“Mom,” Xia Chun turned around and shouted.

Xia Ying nodded at her daughter, turned her head, and asked the makeup artist, “Is everything done?” 

“Yes, so I already asked Miss Xia if there was anything else that she was not satisfied with.”

“It’s all right, Mom,” Xia Chun said.

“Ok, I’ll go first.” The makeup artist picked up the makeup case to leave.

Xia Ying smiled politely. “We have left a seat for you there.” 

“No need, no need. There is another bride, so I have to leave now. Thank you, Mrs. Xia.”

Hearing the makeup artist’s words, Xia Ying didn’t say more. After the makeup artist left the huge hotel room, only the mother and daughter remained.

Xia Chun didn’t speak and just looked at the mirror at the dressing table with empty eyes.

“Chun.” Xia Ying glanced at Xia Chun with a hint of remorse in her eyes. “You are getting married today. Don’t think about it anymore. You listen to your mother, and after time passes, these thoughts won’t haunt you anymore. It would be just like a dream.” She sighed and said, “That kid… he has nothing to do with you in the future. This kind of mistake should end here.”

Xia Chun gradually became alive after hearing her mother’s words, and she turned her head and said softly, “Mom… I don’t think about him anymore.”

Xia Ying’s eyes were slightly red. “It’s good if there is no more…” she muttered as if she were comforting herself.

Xia Chun stood up, and she felt the snow-white wedding dress was no different from the iron chain shackles.

“Let’s go, Mom,” Xia Chun said softly. “It’s time for me to get married.” 

“Good, good, let’s go, let’s go.” Xia Ying’s slightly red eyes filled with joy, and the smile on her face gradually widened. She wiped the corners of her eyes and put her arms around Xia Chun.

The mother and daughter looked at each other, smiled, and walked out the door.

The wedding car convoy was already waiting in the underground parking lot, so Xia Ying phoned the driver to inform him to come and pick them up. 

Xia Ying was worried that Xia Chun would be thirsty on the road, so she walked away to buy water, and Xia Chun, carrying the heavy wedding dress, stood alone on the sidewalk waiting for the car.

Suddenly, a vehicle’s roar filled Xia Chun’s ears. Xia Chun subconsciously turned her head to look for it and saw a snow-white off-road vehicle speeding toward her.

Xia Chun’s heart seemed to collapse, she lifted her wedding dress and hurried towards the entrance of the hotel. 

A gust of wind from the sharp brakes behind her raised the layers of the snow-white veil on her head, and she heard the vehicle door open. She then started running forward in thin heels, but a hand grabbed her wrist, and she was pulled backward.

“Gu Yiran! What are you doing!?” Xia Chun couldn’t break free because the tall and handsome man had already clasped her wrist tightly, staring at her intently.

He was no longer the skinny little boy who used to sit on the back of her bicycle. Now that he was much taller than her, she couldn’t resist his strength, and her struggle now was tantamount to an ant shaking a tree.

Gu Yiran was terrifyingly calm; without waiting for Xia Chun to speak, he carried her on his shoulder with one hand, strode to the off-road vehicle behind him, stuffed her into it, and without giving her time to escape, he sat on the driver’s seat and locked the doors. Wasting no time, he stepped on the accelerator.

And soon, Xia Ying, who was chasing the vehicle, became a small point in Xia Chun’s field of vision.

As the vehicle moved, Xia Chun and Gu Yiran sat silently. Gu Yiran kept stepping on the accelerator and overtook one vehicle after another, while Xia Chun stayed in a daze.

Even though it was summer, the air conditioning in the vehicle was too cold, and Xia Chun, who was wearing a bandeau wedding dress, shivered slightly. She reached out and pressed the button to turn off the air conditioner and switched on the radio. “Gu Yiran, turn around at the next intersection and send me back.” Xia Chun broke the silence first.

Gu Yiran ignored her and drove the vehicle forward, and after a few minutes, it quickly drove through the next intersection in Xia Chun’s mouth without the slightest intention of turning around.

Xia Chun looked at Gu Yiran’s handsome side profile and calmly repeated, “Gu Yiran, send me back.” 

Gu Yiran was silent for a while, and then he raised his hand to turn off the noisy radio.

“I’m not sending you back,” he said in a cold voice. The meaning of his words was very clear. From childhood to adulthood, he had a stubborn temper, and Xia Chun clearly understood him.

Xia Chun took a deep breath. “Gu Yiran, I’m your aunt.” She said word by word what he hated the most.

Gu Yiran’s fingers shook slightly as they gripped the steering wheel, but his expression remained the same.

“Since your mother divorced my grandfather, you are not my aunt anymore. And since I was a child, I have never treated you as my aunt.” Gu Yiran said lightly, “I know, you like me, and you won’t forget me.” 

Her true face was exposed by Gu Yiran, and Xia Chuan laughed angrily. “Gu Yiran! You don’t want a face, but I want a face!”

Gu Yiran suddenly smiled slightly. “Shameless? You are right. I’m just that shameless. As the child born to a hooligan and a damn woman, the blood that flows in me is all debauchery, much like what your mother chastised me for back then. Face? What face do I need?” Gu Yiran turned his head slightly; his eyebrows and eyes were curved like a bridge, and with such a smile, his cold temperament seemed to melt away like snow melting under the sun. “It’s you who don’t believe in me, and you keep wanting to send me away. You took care of me, and you are so kind to me. A dark person like me should not see a little sunshine, and if I don’t see it, I won’t think about it.”

The city had already plugged into darkness, and the lights of the vehicles in traffic floated in front of them. The car had already driven into the bridge.

This time, Xia Chun couldn’t see Gu Yiran’s expressions clearly, she could only see the hair flying around his ears.

“Today, you don’t get married…” Gu Yiran whispered suddenly. 

“Impossible.” Xia Chun was determined.

Gu Yiran didn’t get discouraged hearing Xia Chun’s words, and said lightly, “Or, I will drive the car off this bridge, and we will meet in the afterlife.” He waved the steering wheel, the vehicle instantly rammed backward, and a series of horns sounded in an instant.

Tears immediately clouded Xia Chun’s eyesight once the cold wind blew into her eyes.

When the car took off from the bridge and rushed into the river, Gu Yiran let go of the steering wheel, reached out, and squeezed Xia Chun’s hand in his palm…